Mexico's war on drugs: Arrests fail to drive down violence

Mexico experienced its most violent year in 2017 with more than 25,000 murders, official figures suggest. It is the highest annual tally since modern records began. Organised crime accounted for nearly three-quarters of those murders.

While Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and his predecessor in office, Felipe Calderón, have both waged war against criminal gangs for more than a decade, it has shown little result.

A number of major cartel leaders have been arrested or killed but instead of driving homicide figures down, the crackdown on cartels has led to the fragmentation of existing cartels and the creation of new drug-trafficking gangs.

This timeline summarises the key events involving four major gangs - the Sinaloa, Juárez, Tijuana and Gulf cartels - from the beginning of Mr Calderón's presidency to the present.

2018January: Mexico records 240 murders in the first eight days of the year alone.

The total number of murders in 2017 was 25,339 - the highest figure recorded since records began in 1997.

18 January: The Mexican government says US President Donald Trump's tweet suggesting that Mexico is the "most dangerous country in the world" is "openly false". It adds that the "high demand for drugs in the United States" has a role in the violence Mexico experiences.

13 January: Carlos Domínguez Rodríguez is shot in his car, becoming the 131st journalist to be killed in Mexico since 2000.

Rights groups have said that Mexican journalists have been deliberately targeted because of their investigations into the activities of the cartels and other crime groups, as well as the cartels' links with corrupt authorities and police. They say suspects in the killings are often hired cartel assassins or renegade police officers.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says Mexico is "the most dangerous country in the Western hemisphere for journalists".

2017
19 January: Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, the head of the most powerful drug-trafficking group, the Sinaloa Cartel, is extradited to the United States.

201617 August: Guzmán's two sons are kidnapped by a group which has become the Sinaloa cartel's biggest rival, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

Members of the CJNG used to be allied with the Sinaloa cartel, functioning as its armed wing. Since it split from its former ally, the CJNG has become one of Mexico's most powerful and violent criminal organisations.

See also: Mexico's most-wanted: A guide to the drug cartels

27 July: The National Mayors Association and Mexican Local Authorities Association report that 78 mayors have been killed since the war on drugs began in 2006. Most of them were executed by drug cartels.

8 January:Guzmán, having escaped from Altiplano federal penitentiary in July 2015, is recaptured and returned to the same prison.

20154 March: The leader of Los Zetas, Omar Treviño Morales, also known as Z-42, is arrested by federal forces. The group is known for its violent tactics, such as beheadings.

Mexico had offered $2m (£1.4m) for information leading to Treviño's arrest; the US Drug Enforcement Administration $5m (£3.5m).

Treviño is said to have led the group since the capture of his brother Miguel Angel Treviño Morales, better known as Z-40, in 2013.

20149 October: The leader of the Juárez Cartel, Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, also known as El Viceroy, is captured.

Watch footage of his arrest.
9 March:Knights Templar leader Nazario Moreno is killed in a shootout with the military.

20121 December: Enrique Peña Nieto becomes president and says he will focus on reducing high-impact crimes, such as homicide, kidnapping, and extortion instead of targeting cartel leaders.

12 September:Gulf Cartel leader Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez, also known as El Cos, is arrested.
201120 September: Members of La Familia Michoacana split off from the cartel and found a new group called The Knights Templar.

201012 September: The number two of the Beltran Leyva Cartel, Sergio Villarreal Barragán, aka El Grande (The Big One), is detained.

11 December: President Calderón's first operation against drug-related violence takes place in Michoacán state, where drug production and trafficking had expanded at an accelerated rate since the 1980s.

Re: Mexico's war on drugs: Arrests fail to drive down violence

The war on drugs is a complete failure and based on lies. As long as there is demand, they will never eradicate trafficking as long as the product remains illegal. You saw it with marijuana. Cartels profits shrank instantly as soon as marijuana was legalized in certain states.

It's the same with violence in Mexico. Mexico was reporting record low homicides before Calderon declared his war on narcos. As soon as the government policy went into effect, violence has skyrocketed and remained near all time highs. Add in corruption among different levels of government as each favors a different faction and this spells for a disaster which we are seeing. Take a leader out and watch the chain of command fight for control

Re: Mexico's war on drugs: Arrests fail to drive down violence

I'm a libertarian at heart so you know what I think. We ban things like weed, cocaine, and heroin, but allow alcohol, tobacco, and obesity? How many deaths are related to those? Who is the government to tell you what you can and can't put in your body? At least with legalization, the government is going to setup testing services to make sure you're supplying the drug you say you are. Then they will setup a new agency to oversee the distribution. More big government for them so it's a win win

Why are you skeptical that legalization won't work? Have you been reading too many DEA reports?

Re: Mexico's war on drugs: Arrests fail to drive down violence

LOL too many DEA reports. No, but you got a crack out of me for that line :)

I too admire Libertarian values but lack the faith in people and their judgment. My view is neutral on marijuana, so don't get the idea that I am against legalizing it properly. Highly addictive drugs, I differ my opinion. A drug that enables someone in the pursuit of prostitution to get a fix or so addictive and harmful that in a years time they have aged 15 years with no teeth.

I believe these are the same idiots that will abuse marijuana to a level of stupidity. In Vegas last month, I indulged in some marijuana and I am convinced that it will do nothing but drive up a black market. These stores only sell high-grade stuff and there are no options for people with limited resources. Also, you have to present identification, I have doubts that criminals want a record or include "state tax" in the price of there weed.

Re: Mexico's war on drugs: Arrests fail to drive down violence

There will still.be a black market. California is imposing a 35% tax on sales. Why would I pay $50 or $60 a gram when I can get some better stuff from the basement grower down the street for $10 or $20?

I'm an all or nothing person. Either you legalize everything or make everything illegal. I think its up to the individual to make a decision as to what they want to put in their bodies

Re: Mexico's war on drugs: Arrests fail to drive down violence

In the Pacific Northwest, prices for legal marijuana bud, TAX INCLUDED, are routinely down to $4/gram for outdoor and $8/gram for indoor and it's not even corporate yet. It's kind of bizarre to hear ads for pot all day long on the radio.

Re: Mexico's war on drugs: Arrests fail to drive down violence

Administrator

That ad is hilarious SKid!Notice the HUGE smile on the women's face at the delivery guy,sure beats being an Amazon delivery guy and the side effects,1 of them being uncontrolled giggling.The old man looks totally wasted.I am surprised they allow these ads as they don't for cigarettes which are a legal product(and this is a smoked product like cigarettes)or hard alcohol can't and even in the beer ads they would never show anyone obviously drunk like here they show them stoned.

Re: Mexico's war on drugs: Arrests fail to drive down violence

Just came from a month in Peru. Cocaine, weed, heroin is legal there for personal consumption. Up to 5 or 6 grams. Illegal to sell. Coca leaf is in big bowls in airport terminal and hotels for free. Only saw a few junkies and went around Lima extensively. They just don't seem to have the same problems with drug abuse. Maybe something to legalizing it.

The port area around Lima was pretty violent though, and gang infested with hitmen running around, but most everywhere else is relatively safe. Callou, the port city for Lima, is run by a gangster who calls himself, "Tony Montana". Sounds like a dork. They ship yayo out of the port in ton increments, so of course they will always be beefing there.

Weed is legal here (Washington State) and drug use amongst high schoolers is dropping.

Legalization in quintana roo and other touristy places is worth a shot. What is there to lose?